Book review – Where Demons Dare by Kim Harrison (US title – The Outlaw Demon Wails)

Damn but this series keeps on getting better.
I haven’t reviewed the earlier ones as I only recently got into the habit of writing reviews, and I will freely admit that I struggled a bit with the opening of the first, Dead Witch Walking, and had to push myself to keep going and get my head around the world building, but it was so very well worth it.
Now, six books into The Hollows series, I can’t wait to read the next. Scratch that – I’m already half way through the next!
What’s so good about this series?
The characters: Rachel is smart, sassy and vulnerable, and she lives life on the edge. She even house shares with a vampire, Ivy, who desires more than just her blood, and they spend much of their time together dancing carefully around each other. Then there’s Jenks, the pixy – fierce, loyal, funny and never without a snarky retort. And Trent, the icy cold but gorgeous elf-in-hiding, and Al, the demon who loves to meddle with Rachel’s life. And a whole host of others, all unique and with complex relationships and lives that feel so very real.
The story: What started out as an exciting romp is developing into something fascinatingly complex, with an ever deepening mythos, and revelations that startle you as much as they do the characters. I should love to know how much of this Ms Harrison had planned out when she started writing this series, and how much has developed as it went along.
The writing: despite Harrison’s sometimes annoying habit of re-using the same word or phrase 2 or 3 times in a short space of words, the incredible layers of description ooze imagery that climbs inside your head until you are right there, like an invisible voyeur.
If you love urban fantasy and you haven’t yet tried this series – go, read them. I can’t recommend them highly enough – just push on through the opening of the first one, and you will be delighted, I promise.